The Post Office has postponed signing a contract with OneView Commerce, one of the firms selected to replace Fujitsu as the operator of its IT systems, which were central to a long-running scandal involving wrongful prosecutions of sub-postmasters. According to procurement records, the state-owned organisation has delayed finalising the £169.2 million deal with OneView for the third time, despite announcing the agreement in May.

OneView, a Massachusetts-based IT provider with experience in retail systems—including servicing Australia Post’s point-of-sale operations across more than 3,500 locations—was chosen alongside consultancy group Accenture to overhaul the Post Office’s retail systems. Accenture’s £322.8 million contract, which includes taking over the Horizon software system, has already been signed. The Post Office indicated that the earliest date for signing with OneView is now July 18, but offered no explanation for the repeated postponements.

Procurement documents reveal that the Post Office withdrew and then reissued assessment summaries that supported awarding the contract to OneView. While the Post Office maintained that OneView remains the successful supplier, it declined to comment further on the delays in the process. Such postponements in public sector contracts often follow challenges from unsuccessful bidders, although no details have been confirmed in this case.

The Horizon system, operated by Fujitsu, was at the centre of a major miscarriage of justice, with more than 900 sub-postmasters wrongfully prosecuted over alleged financial discrepancies linked to the software. The scandal, regarded as one of the largest in British history, resulted in 236 people being imprisoned. It is estimated that thousands more were affected, including those dismissed, suspended, or forced to repay deficits they did not cause.

A police investigation is ongoing, targeting potential criminal conduct by individuals involved with the Post Office and Fujitsu. Authorities have identified at least 53 “persons of interest.” A public inquiry concluded last July that sub-postmasters endured “disastrous consequences” due to “wholly unacceptable behaviour” by both the Post Office and Fujitsu, underscoring the systemic failures in the handling of the Horizon system and its aftermath.